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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26128243">Love me like there's no tomorrow</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mazekey/pseuds/Mazekey'>Mazekey</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>How many feathers in a murder?  (ONE SHOTS) [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gotham (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Hanahaki Disease, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Edward Nygma, Pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:07:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,313</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26128243</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mazekey/pseuds/Mazekey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It was late at night when Oswald arrived at Edward's hide out coughing out blood and petals. Oswald just wanted to spend his last moments with Edward but Edward refused. He could fix this, he knew he could. He had to.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Oswald Cobblepot/Edward Nygma</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>How many feathers in a murder?  (ONE SHOTS) [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1834393</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Love me like there's no tomorrow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I haven't really written real angst in a bit so here you go. I hope ypu enjoy, and if you do, leave some kudos and maybe a comment.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Three years. It had been three years since Edward had been broke out from Arkham by the clown and he found his current obsession: Batman. During that time, most of his hours were spent finding a way to defeat the caped crusader with spare breaks in between, most of which were spent in Arkham. Most would find that odd, perhaps even unhealthy but, in a way, Edward was happy. He didn't need anyone else in his life, definitely not a woman who would just break his heart like so many had done before. No, he was fine being alone. Most of the time. </p><p>There were the occasional moments stretched far in between when he'd find himself cold and lonely, missing human contact. Sometimes it would come accompanied with an overwhelming sorrow that would drop him for days at end with no desire to eat or even shower, just cry. Luckily, even that had a solution, the only person he trusted, his only and best friend, Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot. </p><p>Yes, their relationship had been rocky in the past, however, that was the past. They got through it and they were now as close as they could be. Edward comprehended that Oswald understood and accepted him like no one else had before. The kingpin knew all of his strengths and all of his weaknesses, all of his ups and downs and still looked at Edward like an equal. He was a shoulder for the Riddler to cry on and a mouth for him to laugh with. They wouldn't meet quite as frequently but spending hours talking to the Penguin on the phone while he worked had become an usual thing for him. Oswald was all that he needed and that was absolutely fine. </p><p>It was 1am when he heard his door unlock upstairs. There was only one person who knew both the location of his hideout and the password to it so Edward wasn't too worried. Perhaps someone else would have looked at the time and find the visit worrying or troublesome but Edward was still very awake, building his latest trap to finally catch the bat. It was a mindless job that didn't require much thought so company would be nice. As the heavy footsteps made their way downstairs, Riddler immediately knew what it was all about: Oswald had been frustrated by their enemy in common once more and was now here to borrow his ears and complain while drinking a glass of wine. Similar situations had happened in the past although not quite this late. "Greetings and salutations, Oswald. Did you run into the-" </p><p>Edward didn't think much of it until he was pulled away from what he was doing and flipped him over to them slam their lips together. This wasn't normal. </p><p>Once he got over the initial shock and regained control over his body, Edward pulled away and looked at him, red dusted his cheeks and he could still feel Oswald's soft lips against his, they had a metallic taste, the taste of blood. </p><p>Before Edward could say anything, Oswald bent over away from the man and coughed harshly. Even with his hand covering his mouth, Ed could see the blood dripping from his palm. His heart skipped a beat and the rest of his body grew pale. Suddenly, he didn't even care about the kiss anymore. "Oswald? Oswald, what the hell is going on?" The Penguin pulled his hand away from his mouth and both looked down at it to see petals among all the blood. Ed didn't even need to wait for his friend to stop panting to understand who had done this. "Ivy..." he whispered and growled at the same time.</p><p>"W-wasn't waiting for her," Oswald panted out, "I got Quinn, Joker should be there. Not Ivy." He tumbled to the side. Edward managed to catch him before he fell and gently brought him to the wall. "All my men are dead. Poisoned." He panted a bit more harshly, "n-needed to see you one more time. Kiss you..." he tried to reach for Edward's cheek. Before he could, the Riddler grabbed him by the wrist and looked at the splotch of blood there. </p><p>"Stop." He took a deep breath. </p><p>"Edward..." Oswald's voice was sprained. </p><p>"No, Oswald, stop. If this is a poison, there is an antidote. I think I've seen something like this before, so please, stop." He gently put his hand down, "I can help you. Fix you. You're not dying here, so please, don't say goodbye." </p><p>Oswald looked him in the eyes and coughed again. </p><p>Edward helped him sit down and kneeled next to him, "just sit here and wait, ok? I'm going to take care of you. I promise." He stood up once more. </p><p>"N-no, Edward, stay. Please," Oswald practically begged. Blood had splattered all over his fancy purple dress shirt, he wasn't wearing a jacket when he came in. "I lo-" he hacked and wheezed. </p><p>"Shhh, just sit there and wait, ok? Just a little longer. I promise." Edward quickly turned around and left as fast as he could. His heas was spinning. Why had Oswald kissed him? Did he still have feelings for Edward? He thought those had died a long time ago. No, no, this wasn't the time for that. He could consider it and talk about it once Oswald was safe. It only took him less than a minute to find his computer and yet it felt like an eternity. He was really starting to panic. Coughing blood and apnea were symptoms of a plethora of diseases and poisons, but coughing petals wasn't like anything he'd heard from before. Hopefully that would give him a proper diagnosis and a way to fix it. </p><p>As he looked,  more unwanted thoughts flooded his mind. All of the good times, all the laughters, the touch, his smell, everything would be gone. He'd be alone, truly alone just like he was before Oswald. Simple, pathetic Ed unknown to the world without a friend. Alone. Cold. "No!" Edward yelled and slammed his fist in the wall. He didn't notice that the tears had started to fall. The man quickly removed his eyes and wiped them away. Suddenly he missed his other self, at least his annoying tease would drown out the wheezing coming from his office. He was even more afraid that the wheezing would stop. He couldn't muster that. He couldn't lose Oswald. Anyone but Oswald. He was his anchor, his safe place. The world without him would be monotonous. Bland. Empty. Lonely. He couldn't lose him. He had to stop. He was starting to hyperventilate and that wouldn't do Oswald any good. The brunette couldn't help it though. His smile and laughter kept coming to his mind and the thought of that fading away hurt. </p><p>It hurt too much. Suddenly he regretted not making more time to spend with him. If he had been there with Oswald maybe he could have protected him. Guilt suddenly accompanied his melancholy and his hands shook while he trembled. "Stop, please," he practically begged hoping this was a dream of some sort. He made a promise to himself that, if Oswald survived, he'd be a better friend. He'd help him with his schemes more, he'd help him with the club, Edward would protect him from the Bat. </p><p>The criminal wasn't sure how much time passed as he looked but he finally found something: Hanahaki disease, a condition where flowers would grow in a person's lungs. It caused caughing, hemorrhage, weakness, dizziness and eventual death. The most well known symptom however was the expelling of petals from the people's mouth, either by vomiting them or coughing them out. It seemed like an extremely painful disease that normally lasted 2-3 weeks before causing the users death. Edward imagined Ivy had altered it since most of Oswald's men were dead based on what he had said. So he didn't have time. As fast as he could, Edward scrolled for the page to look for a cure or something he could do to prevent it from being fatal. He found it in end, although it definitely wasn't what he was expecting. </p><p>
  <em>Hanahaki disease will generally manifest in those suffering from one sided love. There are two known ways to cure it: by having the person you're in love with confess their feelings for you or to perform a surgery to remove the flowers, also removing one's feelings for that person. </em>
</p><p>Edward thought he had heard all types of insanity throughout his life but this took the cake. Yes, being lovesick was a term people used but it was purely metaphorical. There was NO way something like this was even real... right? If he were to think about it, this was far from the most preposterous thing he'd heard. The Riddler had seen people come back from the grave before and even those who used magic. He walked alongside monsters and even fought a virus capable of turning people into beasts with enhanced abilties. How was this any crazier? </p><p>Of course, the likelihood of this being an actual thing wasn't the reason why he was trying to deny it. No, he was trying to avoid what he had known for a long time now. If Oswald had this Hanahaki disease that meant he was in love with someone who didn't love him back and considering his earlier actions, Edward had a good idea as to who that was. For a moment he considered performing the surgery instead. He quickly discarded that option however, they didn't have the time and if his theory was correct he wasn't sure he wanted Oswald to stop feeling his feelings. </p><p>No. He knew he didn't. Even though he had tried his best to ignore them, Edward knew that Oswald was wrong. Those feelings were not unrequited. The lanky male had just been lying to himself for a long time now. Maybe too long. The truth was, he was terrified, although of what he wasn't sure. He knew Oswald loved him back, he always had. It wasn't like the smaller man had ever tried to hide it. Maybe Ed was afraid of changing or maybe he was afraid of not meeting the other's expectations. He was terrified of losing what he didn't have yet and what he already did. </p><p>There was no more time for any of that though. Oswald was dying and it was all his fault. "I love you," Edward whispered softly from where he sat before standing. "I love you," he repeated more loudly so that the kingpin could hear from the other room. "I have done so for a very long time and maybe even longer than that." His voice was shaky but he kept it loud. His hands were trembling and his heart pounded inside his chest. The tall man removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "remember when we were working together during no man's land? You'd occasionally sleep in my library to not help with the submarine," he chuckled sadly, "that's when I realized I was in love with you. I was a little annoyed at you because you weren't helping and yet you insisted on staying around me, I thought that maybe you didn't trust me, that you thought I'd run away with your treasure." He placed his specs on the bridge of his nose, "then you came one day and asked me if I had eaten and when I say no you got so furious, I still remember exactly how red your face got. You were adorable. That's- that's when I realized, you weren't around me because you wanted the submarine to get done. You were around me because you were taking care of me. You made sure I ate, slept, took my meds even though all these things delayed the process. I could have finished the sub in a month if I had had it my way but you insisted. You cared. Despite how I treated you, how I accused you of not helping, you never threw that on my face. I won't say that's what made me fall for you, Os, but it was what made me realize it." He took a deep breath and began heading back to the room, "I'm sorry that I kept this from you for so long. I just- I never knew how to address it. I didn't want to ruin our friendship or possibly scare you away, but, hey, better late than never, right? Ozzy?" </p><p>Edward spotted the smaller man still in the exact same position he had left him, seated against the wall with his legs slightly parted and his arms next to his small plump body. His cheeks were wet and so was his chest with tears, blood and the petals that had fallen. The most different thing about the familiar man were the flowers now growing from his wide mouth. White lilies had always been his mother's favorite flowers but these ones were a dark crimson. There was also a stillness to the man very unfamiliar to him. Oswald would rarely ever stay still since he wanted to be the one people were constantly looking at and talking about. Even without checking, Ed knew that no matter how many times he called his name he wouldn't answer. Not anymore. There was no tomorrow. </p><p>He wasn't sure for how long he just stood there staring at the body of the man he once love as with just his rapid breathing and the stream from his eyes as a sign he wasn't a mere statue. The only reason why the man moved was to cough into his hand as he felt something caught in his throat. When he opened his eyes to look at his his palm, Edward saw a small splotch of blood and a single petal next to it.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have seen a lot of hanahaki disease fics but none of them end tragically so I wanted to write one that did :D </p><p>Btw, the flowers in here aren't just regular lillies, they are red spider lillies known for being poisonous. They are often planted around cemeteries to prevent animals from digging up the bones. Neat huh?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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